U.S. patent application number 17/656375 was filed with the patent office on 2022-07-07 for device and method for manufacturing thin film.
This patent application is currently assigned to CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD., CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Guowei LI, Quanqin SUN, Hongjian WU, Ang XIAO, Xiaodong YANG, Yangyang ZHANG.
Application Number | 20220213586 17/656375 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | |
Filed Date | 2022-07-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220213586 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SUN; Quanqin ; et
al. |
July 7, 2022 |
DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THIN FILM
Abstract
A device and a method for manufacturing a thin film are
provided. The device includes: a chamber; a substrate carrying
member arranged within the chamber and configured to carry thereon
a substrate on which the thin film is to be formed; a mask fixation
member configured to fix a mask, wherein the mask includes a
shielding region and an opening region, and a material for forming
the thin film is allowed to pass through the opening region; and a
position adjustment member configured to adjust a distance between
the mask and the substrate to form the thin films of different
sizes on the substrate, wherein orthogonal projections of the thin
films of different sizes onto the substrate have different
areas.
Inventors: |
SUN; Quanqin; (Beijing,
CN) ; YANG; Xiaodong; (Beijing, CN) ; XIAO;
Ang; (Beijing, CN) ; LI; Guowei; (Beijing,
CN) ; WU; Hongjian; (Beijing, CN) ; ZHANG;
Yangyang; (Beijing, CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD. |
Chengdu
Beijing |
|
CN
CN |
|
|
Assignee: |
CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS
TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
Chengdu
CN
BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD.
Beijing
CN
|
Appl. No.: |
17/656375 |
Filed: |
March 24, 2022 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16079133 |
Aug 23, 2018 |
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PCT/CN2017/116106 |
Dec 14, 2017 |
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17656375 |
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International
Class: |
C23C 14/04 20060101
C23C014/04; C23C 14/24 20060101 C23C014/24; C23C 14/50 20060101
C23C014/50; C23C 14/54 20060101 C23C014/54; C23C 16/04 20060101
C23C016/04; C23C 16/458 20060101 C23C016/458; C23C 16/52 20060101
C23C016/52; H01L 21/68 20060101 H01L021/68; H01L 51/52 20060101
H01L051/52; H01L 51/56 20060101 H01L051/56 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 15, 2017 |
CN |
201710337765.8 |
Claims
1. A manufacturing method, comprising: placing a substrate onto a
substrate carrying member within a chamber, wherein a thin film is
to be formed on the substrate; fixing a mask onto one side of the
substrate, wherein the mask comprises a shielding region and an
opening region, and a material for forming the thin film is allowed
to pass through the opening region; and adjusting a distance
between the mask and the substrate to form the thin films of
different sizes on the substrate, wherein orthogonal projections of
the thin films of different sizes onto the substrate have different
areas.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein placing the substrate
onto the substrate carrying member within the chamber comprises:
placing an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) substrate onto the
substrate carrying member, wherein a thin film encapsulation layer
is to be formed on the OLED substrate, and the OLED substrate
comprises a base substrate and an OLED device, and the OLED device
is arranged on the base substrate; and adjusting the distance
between the mask and the substrate to form the thin films of
different sizes on the substrate comprises: adjusting the distance
between the mask and the substrate, to form at least two thin film
encapsulation layers of different sizes on the OLED substrate.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the at least two thin
film encapsulation layers comprise at least a first inorganic layer
and an organic layer, adjusting the distance between the mask and
the substrate to form the at least two thin film encapsulation
layers of different sizes on the OLED substrate comprises:
adjusting the distance between the mask and the substrate to be a
first distance, and forming the first inorganic layer on the
substrate; and adjusting the distance between the mask and the
substrate to be a second distance, and forming the organic layer on
the substrate, wherein the second distance is smaller than the
first distance, and a size of the first inorganic layer is greater
than a size of the organic layer.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the at least two thin
film encapsulation layers further comprise a second inorganic
layer; subsequent to adjusting the distance between the mask and
the substrate to be a second distance and forming the organic layer
on the substrate, the method further comprises: adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate to be a third distance,
and forming the second inorganic layer on the substrate, wherein
the third distance is greater than the first distance, and a size
of the second inorganic layer is greater than the size of the first
inorganic layer.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein supplying a first
process gas into the chamber in the case of forming the first
inorganic layer and the second inorganic layer, and supplying a
second process gas into the chamber in the case of forming the
organic layer, wherein the second process gas is different from the
first process gas.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein adjusting the distance
between the mask and the substrate comprises: adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate by controlling the
substrate to move upward or downward and/or controlling the mask to
move upward or downward.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein prior to adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate, the method further
comprises: aligning the mask with the substrate, to enable the
opening region of the mask to directly face a region of the
substrate where the thin film is to be formed.
8. The method according to claim 2, wherein adjusting the distance
between the mask and the substrate comprises: adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate by controlling the
substrate to move upward or downward and/or controlling the mask to
move upward or downward.
9. The method according to claim 2, wherein prior to adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate, the method further
comprises: aligning the mask with the substrate, to enable the
opening region of the mask to directly face a region of the
substrate where the thin film is to be formed.
10. The method according to claim 3, wherein adjusting the distance
between the mask and the substrate comprises: adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate by controlling the
substrate to move upward or downward and/or controlling the mask to
move upward or downward.
11. The method according to claim 3, wherein prior to adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate, the method further
comprises: aligning the mask with the substrate, to enable the
opening region of the mask to directly face a region of the
substrate where the thin film is to be formed.
12. The method according to claim 4, wherein adjusting the distance
between the mask and the substrate comprises: adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate by controlling the
substrate to move upward or downward and/or controlling the mask to
move upward or downward.
13. The method according to claim 4, wherein prior to adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate, the method further
comprises: aligning the mask with the substrate, to enable the
opening region of the mask to directly face a region of the
substrate where the thin film is to be formed.
14. The method according to claim 5, wherein adjusting the distance
between the mask and the substrate comprises: adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate by controlling the
substrate to move upward or downward and/or controlling the mask to
move upward or downward.
15. The method according to claim 5, wherein prior to adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate, the method further
comprises: aligning the mask with the substrate, to enable the
opening region of the mask to directly face a region of the
substrate where the thin film is to be formed.
16. The method according to claim 6, wherein prior to adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate, the method further
comprises: aligning the mask with the substrate, to enable the
opening region of the mask to directly face a region of the
substrate where the thin film is to be formed.
17. The method according to claim 8, wherein prior to adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate, the method further
comprises: aligning the mask with the substrate, to enable the
opening region of the mask to directly face a region of the
substrate where the thin film is to be formed.
18. The method according to claim 10, wherein prior to adjusting
the distance between the mask and the substrate, the method further
comprises: aligning the mask with the substrate, to enable the
opening region of the mask to directly face a region of the
substrate where the thin film is to be formed.
19. The method according to claim 12, wherein prior to adjusting
the distance between the mask and the substrate, the method further
comprises: aligning the mask with the substrate, to enable the
opening region of the mask to directly face a region of the
substrate where the thin film is to be formed.
20. The method according to claim 14, wherein prior to adjusting
the distance between the mask and the substrate, the method further
comprises: aligning the mask with the substrate, to enable the
opening region of the mask to directly face a region of the
substrate where the thin film is to be formed.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 16/079,133 filed on Aug. 23, 2018, which is
the U.S. national phase of PCT Application No. PCT/CN2017/116106
filed on Dec. 14, 2017, which claims priority to Chinese Patent
Application No. 201710337765.8 filed on May 15, 2017, which are
incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure relates to the manufacture of thin
film, in particular to a device and a method for manufacturing a
thin film.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Usually, an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) substrate is
encapsulated through a thin film encapsulation (TFE) process. A
thin film encapsulation layer for encapsulating the OLED substrate
includes typically three encapsulation layers, i.e., a first
inorganic layer, an organic layer and a second inorganic layer
formed sequentially.
[0004] Currently, for a TFE method, the three encapsulation layers
need to be sequentially deposited in different chambers or devices,
and each chamber or device is used for the formation (e.g.,
deposition) of one encapsulation layer. In addition, respective
masks need to be designed for different encapsulation layers, and
these masks have opening regions of different sizes.
[0005] The above TPE method has the following disadvantages. 1) At
least three chambers or devices for different processes need to be
provided, resulting in an increase in the equipment cost. 2) The
to-be-encapsulated OLED substrate needs to be delivered among the
different devices, resulting in an increased possibility of a
product being adversely affected by particles. 3) Prior to the
deposition of each encapsulation layer, it is necessary to perform
an alignment process on the encapsulation layer, resulting in an
increase in the alignment difficulty. 4) It is necessary to provide
various mask designs for each product, resulting in an increase in
the design cost and the management difficulty.
SUMMARY
[0006] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a device
and a method for manufacturing a thin film, so as to solve the
above-mentioned problems.
[0007] In one aspect, the present disclosure provides in some
embodiments a device for manufacturing a thin film, including: a
chamber; a substrate carrying member arranged within the chamber
and configured to carry thereon a substrate on which the thin film
is to be formed; a mask fixation member configured to fix a mask,
wherein the mask includes a shielding region and an opening region,
and a material for forming the thin film is allowed to pass through
the opening region; and a position adjustment member configured to
adjust a distance between the mask and the substrate to form the
thin films of different sizes on the substrate, wherein orthogonal
projections of the thin films of different sizes onto the substrate
have different areas.
[0008] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the
substrate carrying member is further configured to carry thereon an
organic light-emitting diode (OLED) substrate on which a thin film
encapsulation layer is to be formed, and the OLED substrate
includes a base substrate and an OLED device arranged on the base
substrate. The position adjustment member is further configured to
adjust a distance between the mask and the substrate, to form at
least two thin film encapsulation layers of different sizes on the
OLED substrate.
[0009] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the at
least two thin film encapsulation layers include at least a first
inorganic layer and an organic layer, and a size of the first
inorganic layer is greater than a size of the organic layer. The
position adjustment member is further configured to adjust the
distance between the mask and the substrate to be a first distance
prior to the formation of the first inorganic layer, and adjust the
distance between the mask and the substrate to a second distance
prior to the formation of the organic layer, wherein the second
distance is smaller than the first distance.
[0010] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the at
least two thin film encapsulation layers further include a second
inorganic layer, and a size of the second inorganic layer is
greater than the size of the first inorganic layer. The position
adjustment member is further configured to adjust the distance
between the mask and the substrate to be a third distance prior to
the formation of the second inorganic layer, wherein the third
distance is greater than the first distance.
[0011] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the OLED
substrate on which the thin film encapsulation layer is to be
formed further includes a first inorganic layer covering the OLED
device, and the at least two thin film encapsulation layers include
an organic layer and a second inorganic layer. The position
adjustment member is further configured to adjust the distance
between the mask and the substrate to be a second distance prior to
the formation of the organic layer, and adjust the distance between
the mask and the substrate to be a third distance prior to the
formation of the second inorganic layer, wherein the third distance
is greater than the second distance.
[0012] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the
substrate carrying member includes a lifting table, and the
position adjustment member is further configured to control the
lifting table to move upward or downward, to adjust the distance
between the mask and the substrate; and/or the mask fixation member
is liftable, and the position adjustment member is further
configured to control the mask fixation member to move upward or
downward, to adjust the distance between the mask and the
substrate.
[0013] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the
device further includes an alignment member configured to align the
mask with the substrate, to enable the opening region of the mask
to directly face a region of the substrate where the thin film is
to be formed.
[0014] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the
device further includes a gas supply member configured to supply a
corresponding process gas into the chamber in accordance with a
type of the thin film to be formed.
[0015] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the gas
supply member is further configured to set an amount and a supply
time period of the process gas in accordance with a size and a
thickness of the thin film to be formed.
[0016] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the gas
supply member is arranged at a side of the mask distal to the
substrate.
[0017] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides in some
embodiments a method for manufacturing a thin film, including:
placing a substrate onto a substrate carrying member within a
chamber, wherein a thin film is to be formed on the substrate;
fixing a mask onto one side of the substrate, wherein the mask
includes a shielding region and an opening region, and a material
for forming the thin film is allowed to pass through the opening
region; and adjusting a distance between the mask and the substrate
to form the thin films of different sizes on the substrate, wherein
orthogonal projections of the thin films of different sizes onto
the substrate have different areas.
[0018] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, prior to
the step of adjusting the distance between the mask and the
substrate, the method further includes: aligning the mask with the
substrate, to enable the opening region of the mask to directly
face a region of the substrate where the thin film is to be
formed.
[0019] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the step
of placing the substrate onto the substrate carrying member within
the chamber includes: placing an OLED substrate onto the substrate
carrying member, wherein a thin film encapsulation layer is to be
formed on the OLED substrate, and the OLED substrate includes a
base substrate and an OLED device arranged on the base substrate.
The step of adjusting the distance between the mask and the
substrate to form the thin films of different sizes on the
substrate includes: adjusting the distance between the mask and the
substrate, to form at least two thin film encapsulation layers of
different sizes on the OLED substrate.
[0020] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the at
least two thin film encapsulation layers include at least a first
inorganic layer and an organic layer. The step of adjusting the
distance between the mask and the substrate, to form the at least
two thin film encapsulation layers of different sizes on the OLED
substrate includes: adjusting the distance between the mask and the
substrate to be a first distance, and forming the first inorganic
layer on the substrate; and adjusting the distance between the mask
and the substrate to be a second distance, and forming the organic
layer on the substrate, wherein the second distance is smaller than
the first distance, and a size of the first inorganic layer is
greater than a size of the organic layer.
[0021] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the at
least two thin film encapsulation layers further include a second
inorganic layer. Subsequent to the step of adjusting the distance
between the mask and the substrate to be a second distance, and
forming the organic layer on the substrate, the method further
includes: adjusting the distance between the mask and the substrate
to be a third distance, and forming the second inorganic layer on
the substrate, wherein the third distance is greater than the first
distance, and a size of the second inorganic layer is greater than
the size of the first inorganic layer.
[0022] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the
method further includes: supplying a first process gas into the
chamber in the case of forming the first inorganic layer and the
second inorganic layer, and supplying a second process gas into the
chamber in the case of forming the organic layer, wherein the
second process gas is different from the first process gas.
[0023] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the step
of adjusting the distance between the mask and the substrate
includes: adjusting the distance between the mask and the substrate
by controlling the substrate and/or the mask to move upward or
downward.
[0024] According to the device for manufacturing the thin film
provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the thin
films of different sizes are formed through the same mask, so it is
able to reduce the equipment cost. In the case of forming a
plurality of layers of thin films, it is unnecessary to deliver the
substrate among different devices, so it is able to reduce the
possibility of the product being adversely affected by particles.
In addition, it is unnecessary to design the mask for each layer of
thin film, so it is able to reduce the design cost and the
management difficulty.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an OLED panel;
[0026] FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a mask shadow effect in
the case that a thin film is formed on a substrate with a mask;
[0027] FIG. 3 is a curve diagram of a correspondence between a
distance between the mask and the substrate and a distance between
the thin film deposited under a shielding region of the mask and an
edge of an opening region of the mask acquired through a thin film
deposition experiment;
[0028] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing a thin
film according to one embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[0029] FIGS. 5-11 are schematic views showing the deposition of
thin film encapsulation layers onto an OLED substrate according to
one embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0030] FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an OLED panel. As shown
in FIG. 1, the OLED panel includes an OLED substrate and thin film
encapsulation layers for encapsulating the OLED substrate. The OLED
substrate includes a base substrate 101 and an OLED device 102
arranged on the base substrate 101. The thin film encapsulation
layers include three layers of encapsulation thin film, i.e., a
first inorganic layer 103, an organic layer 104 and a second
inorganic layer 105. The first inorganic layer 103 has a size
slightly greater than a size of the organic layer 104, and the
second inorganic layer 105 has a size slightly greater than a size
of the first inorganic layer 103.
[0031] A device and a method for manufacturing a thin film in the
embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to an
evaporation or deposition process, e.g., a TFE process for the OLED
substrate in FIG. 1.
[0032] At first, a principle in the embodiments of the present
disclosure will be described hereinafter.
[0033] As shown in FIG. 2 which is a schematic view showing a mask
shadow effect in the case that a thin film is formed on a substrate
with a mask, the mask 22 has a shielding region and an opening
region, and a pattern of the opening region corresponds a pattern
of the thin film 23 formed (e.g., deposited) on the substrate 21.
During the deposition, there is a certain distance L1 between the
mask 22 and the substrate 21, so the mask shadow effect may occur,
i.e., the resultant pattern of the thin film 23 does not completely
conform to the pattern of the opening region. At this time, a part
of the thin film may be deposited at a position under the shielding
region of the mask 22. As shown in FIG. 2, a part of the thin film,
a distance between which and an edge of the opening region is L2,
may be formed at a position under the shielding region of the mask
22.
[0034] As shown in FIG. 3 which is a curve diagram of a
correspondence between a distance between the mask and the
substrate and a distance between the thin film deposited under the
shielding region of the mask and the edge of the opening region of
the mask acquired by measurement through a thin film deposition
experiment, the larger the distance between the mask and the
substrate, the larger the size of the part of the thin film
deposited at the position under the shielding region of the mask,
i.e., the larger the distance between the part of the thin film
deposited at the position under the shielding region of the mask
and the edge of the opening region. In contrast, the smaller the
distance between the mask and the substrate, the smaller the size
of the part of the thin film deposited at the position under the
shielding region of the mask.
[0035] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, based on the
above principle, through adjusting the distance between the mask
and the substrate, it is able to form the thin films of different
sizes using a same thin film manufacturing device and a same
mask.
[0036] In order to make the objects, the technical solutions and
the advantages of the present disclosure more apparent, the present
disclosure will be described hereinafter in a clear and complete
manner in conjunction with the drawings and embodiments. Obviously,
the following embodiments merely relate to a part of, rather than
all of, the embodiments of the present disclosure, and based on
these embodiments, a person skilled in the art may, without any
creative effort, obtain the other embodiments, which also fall
within the scope of the present disclosure.
[0037] The present disclosure provides in some embodiments a device
for manufacturing a thin film, which includes: a chamber (e.g., a
thin film deposition chamber); a substrate carrying member arranged
within the chamber and configured to carry thereon a substrate on
which the thin film is to be formed; a mask fixation member
configured to fix a mask, the mask including a shielding region and
an opening region through which a material for forming the thin
film is allowed to pass; and a position adjustment member
configured to adjust a distance between the mask and the substrate
according to the size of the thin film to be formed, so as to form
the thin films of different sizes on the substrate, orthogonal
projections of the thin films of different sizes onto the substrate
having different areas.
[0038] According to the device in the embodiments of the present
disclosure, the thin films of different sizes are formed through a
same mask and a same thin film manufacturing device, so it is able
to reduce the equipment cost. In the case of forming a plurality of
layers of thin films, it is unnecessary to deliver the substrate
among different devices, so it is able to reduce the possibility of
the product being adversely affected by particles. In addition, it
is unnecessary to design the mask for each thin film, so it is able
to reduce the design cost and the management difficulty.
[0039] It should be appreciated that, in some other embodiments of
the present disclosure, the thin films of different sizes on the
substrate may have different thicknesses.
[0040] In addition, the thin film manufacturing device may further
include a thin film formation member configured to form the thin
film on the mask.
[0041] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure,
preferably, prior to the formation of the thin film, it is
necessary to align the mask with the substrate. At this time, the
thin film manufacturing device may further include an alignment
member configured to align the mask with the substrate.
[0042] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure,
preferably, in the case that a plurality of layers of thin films is
to be formed at a predetermined region of the substrate using the
mask, it is merely necessary for the alignment member to align the
mask with the substrate in the case of forming a first layer of
thin film, and it is unnecessary to perform an alignment process in
the case of forming the other layers of thin films. As a result, it
is able to reduce the number of the alignment processes, thereby to
reduce the alignment difficulty.
[0043] Usually, it is necessary to supply a process gas into the
chamber during the formation of the thin film, and in the case that
the thin films of different types are to be formed, it may be
necessary to supply different process gases. Therefore, in a
possible embodiment of the present disclosure, preferably, the
device may further include a gas supply member configured to supply
a corresponding process gas into the chamber in accordance with a
type of the thin film to be formed.
[0044] In addition, preferably, in the case that the thin films of
different types are to be formed continuously on the substrate
using different process gases, it is necessary to discharge the
process gas in the chamber for the formation of a succeeding thin
film. In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the
device may further include a gas discharge member configured to
discharge the process gas in the chamber.
[0045] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure,
preferably, the substrate may be an OLED substrate, and the chamber
may be used to form a thin film encapsulation layer for
encapsulating the OLED substrate. In other words, the substrate
carrying member is further configured to carry thereon the OLED
substrate on which the thin film encapsulation layer is to be
formed. The OLED substrate includes a base substrate and an OLED
device arranged on the base substrate. The position adjustment
member is further configured to adjust the distance between the
mask and the substrate, so as to form at least two thin film
encapsulation layers having different sizes on the OLED
substrate.
[0046] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the at least
two thin film encapsulation layers include a first inorganic layer
and an organic layer, wherein a size of the first inorganic layer
is greater than a size of the organic layer. At this time, the
position adjustment member is configured to adjust the distance
between the mask and the substrate to be a first distance prior to
the formation of the first inorganic layer, and adjust the distance
between the mask and the substrate to be a second distance smaller
than the first distance prior to the formation of the organic
layer.
[0047] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the at least
two thin film encapsulation layers further include a second
inorganic layer having a size greater than the size of the first
inorganic layer. The position adjustment member is further
configured to adjust the distance between the mask and the
substrate to be a third distance greater than the first distance
prior to the formation of the second inorganic layer.
[0048] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, an organic
layer and a second organic layer may be formed using the thin film
manufacturing device on the OLED substrate on which a first
inorganic layer has already been formed. At this time, the position
adjustment member is further configured to adjust the distance
between the mask and the substrate to be a second distance prior to
the formation of the organic layer, and adjust the distance between
the mask and the substrate to a third distance prior to the
formation of the second inorganic layer.
[0049] It should be appreciated that, during the formation of a
certain layer of thin film (e.g., the first inorganic layer), the
distance between the mask and the substrate is constant (e.g., the
first distance). It should be appreciated that, the position
adjustment member may be further configured to finely adjust the
distance between the mask and the substrate in accordance with a
thickness of the thin film. For example, the position adjustment
member may be configured to perform the fine adjustment through
detecting a thickness of the thin film or monitoring a supply time
period or an amount of the process gas.
[0050] In addition, in some embodiments of the present disclosure,
the position adjustment member may be further configured to adjust
a size of the opening region of the mask.
[0051] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the
distance between the mask and the substrate may be adjusted by
controlling the substrate to move upward or downward and/or
controlling the mask to move upward or downward. At this time,
preferably, the substrate carrying member may include a lifting
table, and/or the mask fixation member may be a liftable fixation
member. The position adjustment member is further configured to
control the lifting table and/or the mask fixation member to move
upward or downward, so as to adjust the distance between the mask
and the substrate.
[0052] Based on an identical inventive concept, the present
disclosure further provides in some embodiments a method for
manufacturing a thin film which, as shown in FIG. 4, includes: Step
41 of placing a substrate on which the thin film is to be formed
into a chamber; Step 42 of fixing a mask at one side of the
substrate, the mask including a shielding region and an opening
region through which a material for forming the thin film is
allowed to pass; and Step 43 of adjusting a distance between the
mask and the substrate, so as to form the thin films of different
sizes on the substrate.
[0053] According to the method in the embodiments of the present
disclosure, the thin films of different sizes are formed using a
same thin film manufacturing device through adjusting the distance
between the mask and the substrate, so it is able to reduce the
equipment cost. In the case of forming a plurality of layers of
thin films, it is unnecessary to deliver the substrate among
different devices, so it is able to reduce the possibility of the
product being adversely affected by particles. In addition, it is
unnecessary to design the mask for each thin film, so it is able to
reduce the design cost and the management difficulty.
[0054] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure,
preferably, prior to the formation of the thin film, it is
necessary to align the mask with the substrate. At this time, the
step of fixing the mask to one side of the substrate includes
aligning the mask with the substrate.
[0055] Preferably, in the case that a plurality of thin films is to
be formed at a predetermined region of the substrate using the
mask, it is merely necessary for the alignment member to align the
mask with the substrate in the case of forming a first layer of
thin film, and it is unnecessary to perform an alignment process in
the case of forming the other layers of thin films. As a result, it
is able to reduce the number of the alignment processes, thereby to
reduce the alignment difficulty.
[0056] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure,
preferably, the substrate is an OLED substrate, and the method is
used to form a thin film encapsulation layer for encapsulating the
OLED substrate.
[0057] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the thin film
encapsulation layer at least includes a first inorganic layer and
an organic layer. The step of adjusting the distance between the
mask and the substrate so as to form the thin films of different
sizes on the substrate includes: adjusting the distance between the
mask and the substrate to be a first distance, so as to form the
first inorganic layer on the substrate, and adjusting the distance
between the mask and the substrate to be a second distance smaller
than the first distance so as to form the organic layer on the
substrate.
[0058] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the thin
film encapsulation layer further includes a second inorganic layer,
and the step of adjusting the distance between the mask and the
substrate so as to form the thin films of different sizes on the
substrate further includes: adjusting the distance between the mask
and the substrate to be a third distance greater than the first
distance so as to form the second inorganic layer on the
substrate.
[0059] Preferably, the method further includes: supplying a first
process gas into the chamber in the case of forming the first
inorganic layer and the second inorganic layer, and supplying a
second process gas different from the first process gas into the
chamber in the case of forming the organic layer.
[0060] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the step
of adjusting the distance between the mask and the substrate
includes adjusting the distance between the mask and the substrate
by controlling the substrate and/or the mask to move upward or
downward.
[0061] For ease of understanding, the following description will be
given by taking the deposition of a thin film using the mask as an
example. It should be appreciated that, the present disclosure is
not limited thereto, and the device and the method in the
embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to an
evaporation process.
[0062] As shown in FIGS. 5 to 10 which are schematic views showing
the method for depositing the thin film encapsulation layers onto
the OLED substrate according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure, the method includes the following steps.
[0063] Step 51: referring to FIG. 5, placing the OLED substrate
into a chamber (e.g., a thin film deposition chamber 200). The OLED
substrate includes a base substrate 101 and an OLED device 102. To
be specific, the OLED substrate may be carried on and fixed by a
substrate carrying member within the thin film deposition chamber
200. The substrate carrying member includes a lifting table
201.
[0064] Step 52: referring to FIG. 6, fixing a mask 300 to a side of
the OLED substrate, and aligning the mask 300 with the OLED
substrate. The mask 300 includes a shielding region 301 and an
opening region 302. To be specific, the mask 300 may be fixed
through a mask fixation member 202 within the thin film deposition
chamber 200. The mask fixation member 202 may be a liftable
fixation member. The fixed mask 300 may be arranged parallel to the
OLED substrate, and after the alignment, the opening region 302 of
the mask 300 face towards a region of the OLED substrate where the
thin film is to be deposited.
[0065] Step 53: referring to FIG. 7, adjusting, by a position
adjustment member 203, a distance between the mask 300 and the OLED
substrate to be a first distance L3, and supplying a first process
gas S1 into the thin film deposition chamber 200 so as to deposit a
first inorganic layer 103.
[0066] In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the
position adjustment member 203 may control the mask fixation member
202 to move upward or downward, so as to control the mask 300 to
move upward or downward, thereby to adjust the distance between the
mask 300 and the OLED substrate. It should be appreciated that, in
some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the position
adjustment member 203 may also control the lifting table 201 to
move upward or downward, so as to control the OLED substrate to
move upward or downward, thereby to adjust the distance between the
mask 300 and the OLED substrate.
[0067] Step 54: referring to FIG. 8, discharging the first process
gas S1 within the thin film deposition chamber 200.
[0068] Step 55: referring to FIG. 9, adjusting, by the position
adjustment member 203, the distance between the mask 300 and the
OLED substrate to be a second distance L4 smaller than the first
distance L3, and supplying a second process gas S2 into the thin
film deposition chamber 200 so as to deposit an organic layer
104.
[0069] Step 56: referring to FIG. 10, discharging the second
process gas S2 within the thin film deposition chamber 200.
[0070] Step 57: referring to FIG. 11, adjusting, by the position
adjustment member 203, the distance between the mask 300 and the
OLED substrate to be a third distance L5 greater than the first
distance L3, and supplying the first process gas S1 into the thin
film deposition chamber 200 so as to deposit a second inorganic
layer 105.
[0071] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the distance
between the mask 300 and the OLED substrate may refer to a vertical
distance between the mask 300 and the base substrate 101 of the
OLED substrate.
[0072] According to the method in the embodiments of the present
disclosure, a plurality of the layers of the encapsulation thin
films of different sizes are formed on the OLED substrate within
the same thin film deposition chamber through the same mask, so it
is able to reduce the equipment cost. In addition, it is
unnecessary to deliver the substrate among different devices, so it
is able to reduce the possibility of the product being adversely
affected by particles. In addition, it is unnecessary to design the
mask for each thin film, so it is able to reduce the design cost
and the management difficulty.
[0073] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the thin film
deposition chamber may be a chemical vapor deposition (CVD)
chamber.
[0074] To sum up, the present disclosure has the following
advantages. 1) It is able to deposit the thin films of different
sizes merely using one manufacture device, so as to reduce the
equipment cost. 2) In the case of depositing the thin films of
different sizes onto one substrate, it is unnecessary to deliver
the substrate among different devices, so it is able to reduce the
possibility of the product being adversely affected by particles.
3) It is necessary to align the mask with the substrate merely in
the case of depositing the thin film for the first time, so it is
able to reduce the alignment difficulty. 4) It is able to deposit
the thin films of different sizes merely through one mask, so as to
reduce the design cost and the management difficulty.
[0075] Unless otherwise defined, any technical or scientific term
used herein shall have the common meaning understood by a person of
ordinary skills. Such words as "first" and "second" used in the
specification and claims are merely used to differentiate different
components rather than to represent any order, number or
importance. Similarly, such words as "one" or "one of" are merely
used to represent the existence of at least one member, rather than
to limit the number thereof. Such words as "connect" or "connected
to" may include electrical connection, direct or indirect, rather
than to be limited to physical or mechanical connection. Such words
as "on", "under", "left" and "right" are merely used to represent
relative position relationship, and when an absolute position of
the object is changed, the relative position relationship will be
changed too.
[0076] The above are merely the preferred embodiments of the
present disclosure. It should be appreciated that, a person skilled
in the art may make further modifications and improvements without
departing from the spirit of the present disclosure, and these
modifications and improvements shall also fall within the scope of
the present disclosure.
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